WEBVTT NATALIE: ON APRIL 24, 1980,20-YEAR-OLD ROBIN BROOKS WASFOUND MURDERED IN HER APARTMENTIN SACRAMENTO COUNTY. SHE HAD BEEN SEXUALLY ASSAULTEDAND STABBED TO DEATH. HER KILLER WAS NEVER FOUND, BUTAPPARENTLY CUT HIMSELF DURINGTHE ASSAULT, LEAVING DETECTIVESWITH A KEY PIECE OF INFORMATION-- HIS DNA. >> THERE WAS SOME BLOOD LEFT ATTHE SCENE AND THERE WAS ALSOSEMEN.NATALIE: EVENTUALLY WHEN THETECHNOLOGY WAS AVAILABLE, HISDNA PROFILE WAS UPLOADED TO ANATIONAL DATABASE OF OFFENDERS,BUT NO MATCH MEANT NO CLUES INTOHIS IDENTITY. UNTIL NOW, AND A NEW TECHNOLOGYCALLED DNA PHENOTYPING. >> IT'S ESSENTIALLY USING YOURDNA TO ATTEMPT TO FIGURE OUTMAYBE HOW YOUR FEATURES WILLEXPRESS THEMSELVES.NATALIE: THAT INCLUDES EYECOLOR, SKIN TONE, RACE, ANDPOSSIBLE ANCESTRY. >> IT'S NOT 100%, BUT THEY CANGIVE YOU SOME PRETTY GOODPROBABILITIES RELATED TO WHATTHOSE TYPES OF THINGS ARE.NATALIE: THE NEW SKETCH SHOWSWHAT THE KILLER MAY HAVE LOOKEDLIKE IN HIS 20'S AND TODAY. >> THIS IS THE FIRST TIME WE'VEUSED THIS.IT'S A FAIRLY NEW PROCESS AND WEWE'RE JUST LOOKING AT WAYS TOTRY NEW THINGS.NATALIE: AND PIECE THEM TOGETHERWITH NEW INFORMATION.ORIGINALLY, INVESTIGATORSTHOUGHT BROOKS FINISHED HERSHIFT HERE AT DONUT TIME ANDWALKED STRAIGHT HOME TO HERAPARTMENT, BUT THAT TIMELINECHANGED THANKS TO AN UNNAMEDINFORMANT.HE SAW BROOKS AT A HOUSE PARTYHERE ON ROSEPORT WAY THE SAMENIGHT.>> WE BELIEVE SHE WAS AT A PARTYWITH HIRAM JOHNSON STUDENTS ANDTHEY MAY SAY, HEY, I KNEWSOMEONE WITH HAIR LIKE THAT ORSKIN TONE LIKE THAT.NATALIE: DETECTIVES HOPE THESKETCHES ENCOURAGE PEOPLE TOLOOK BACK AT THAT TIME AND HELPMOVE THE CASE FORWARD.COLLECTS IT -- >> IF IT GIVES USA FEW TIPS OF PEOPLE CALLING INAND IT JOGS PEOPLE'S MEMORIES,THAT MIGHT LEAD US IN THEDIRECTION OF WHERE WE NEED TO

It's been 36 years since Robin Gisela Brooks was found stabbed to death in her apartment bedroom, and the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department is still looking for the person responsible in the cold case homicide.

Brooks, then-20 years old, recently moved into her apartment complex and was scheduled to work on April 24, 1980 at the Donut Time on Kiefer Boulevard in Sacramento County.

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When Brooks didn't show up for her 4 p.m. shift, friends and coworkers went to her apartment and knocked on the door numerous times.

With no response, the friends forced their way inside and found Brooks dead in her bedroom, the sheriff's department said.

Sacramento County sheriff's detectives conducted an investigation, and an autopsy revealed Brooks was sexually assaulted before she was stabbed to death.

One key piece of information -- the killer's DNA -- was found on Brooks as they must have cut themself during the assault, investigators said.

"There was some blood left at the scene and there was also semen," Sacramento County Sheriff's Sgt. Paul Belli said.

The DNA profile was uploaded to the Combined DNA Index System database, but no match has come up since that time.

Recently, the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department hired East Coast-based Parabon Snapshot, which took the killer's DNA and created detailed composite sketches of what he may have looked like during the time of the murder -- and today.

"It essentially uses your DNA to attempt to figure out how your features will express themselves. Things like skin tone, eye color, race, things like that," Belli explained. "It's not 100 percent, but they can give you some pretty good probabilities related to what those types of things are."

Detectives are hoping someone will see the sketches and it will jog their memory about that time.

Detectives also recently got new information from an unnamed informant.

Originally, they believed Brooks left her shift at Donut Time on Kiefer Boulevard and walked home to her apartment. The informant told detectives he saw Brooks at a house party that night on Roseport Way.

"We believe she was at a party that same evening with Hiram Johnson High School students and they may say, 'Hey, I knew someone with that hair color or skin tone like that,' or something along those lines," Belli said.

"Even if it gives us a few tips with people calling in, that might lead us in the direction of where we need to go," he added

Brooks' family is offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for Brooks' killing.

Anyone with information about this case is asked to call the Sacramento County Sheriff's Department at 916-874-5057.